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Harder Choices Ahead: What the Financial Inclusion Compass 2026 Tells us About the Sector’s Shifting Challenges
What is the biggest story in financial inclusion in 2026? Sam Mendelson at European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) shares insights from e-MFP's “Financial Inclusion Compass 2026,” a survey of sector trends, risks and priorities that's been published since 2018. As he explains, the survey responses show a sector that is raising its ambitions for what financial inclusion has to achieve, at the same time as the environment in which it operates is becoming more difficult. He explores some key findings, as financial inclusion moves away from an era characterized by access, growth and donor-supported expansion, and towards one increasingly shaped by resilience, adaptation, commercial pressure, and harder choices about who gets served, how and at what cost.
- Categories
- Finance
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Salary Hero Raises US$7.6 Million to Expand Earned-Wage Access Business in Malaysia
Thailand-based fintech firm Salary Hero has raised US$7.6 million in Series A funding led by Cento Ventures as it expands its earned-wage access business into Malaysia.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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The Hidden Cost of Digitization for Women Entrepreneurs: Recent Research Reveals Gender Differences in the Impacts of Fraud — And Highlights Some Solutions
Rising rates of financial fraud in emerging economies threaten to undermine the promise of digitization for women entrepreneurs. As Tanvi Jaluka at CARE and Lauren Perlik at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) explain, fraud is among the well-documented barriers women face in accessing digital financial tools and services. But there has been a lack of data on the unique risks women experience once they have already gained this access or adopted these tools. To better understand these impacts, CARE and IPA have combined their data from multiple survey projects to answer a few key questions: Is there a specific story for women around digital risk and fraud? Are they more vulnerable? And what can we do to improve their resilience?
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Designing Finance for the Realities of Youth: Applications are Open for the Newly Renamed Luxembourg Award for Inclusive Finance
Over 1.3 billion people in emerging economies are between 18 and 35, and the median age in some developing countries is in the teens or low twenties. As Sam Mendelson at e-MFP and Tim Nourse at Making Cents argue, young people represent the economic center of gravity in the Global South, yet financial systems were not designed to serve their shifting needs. They explore opportunities to unlock youth-inclusive finance — the theme of this year's Luxembourg Award for Inclusive Finance (formerly known as the European Microfinance Award).
- Categories
- Finance
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NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2025: Announcing the Winners of Our Annual Contest
We've counted the votes in NextBillion’s “Most Influential Articles of the Year” contest, an annual tradition since 2012. The three winners are listed in this article. Congratulations to these guest writers, and to the other contestants in the contest, whose insights have clearly resonated with our readers this past year. And thank you to everyone who voted — and everyone who read and wrote for NextBillion in 2025. Best wishes for the new year!
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology, Telecommunications
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Analysis: South Asian SMEs Face Digital Turning Point as AI Adoption Accelerates
While artificial intelligence (AI) has already begun reshaping large corporations in the region, most SMEs remain trapped in traditional, low-efficiency business models that limit scalability and financial resilience.
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- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Building the Financial Services Stack of the Future: Why True Resilience Requires a More Holistic Approach
Over the last decade, financial inclusion has experienced unprecedented progress, as 79% of adults globally now have a financial account compared to 62% 10 years ago. But according to Payal Dalal at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, most financial inclusion initiatives are still organized around verticals like loans, savings and insurance, and delivered through separate providers and channels, which forces customers to piece them together into a comprehensive safety net or growth path. She argues that the financial services stack of the future must address this lack of integration, delivering solutions that meet multiple financial needs simultaneously — while responding to the growing headwinds that individuals and entrepreneurs face today.
- Categories
- Finance
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Relief for MSME Workers as New Pension Scheme Opens Door to Affordable Retirement Savings in Kenya
The deal aims to bring micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) into the country’s formal pension system through the Octagon Umbrella Retirement Benefits Scheme.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- financial health, MSMEs, partnerships, savings
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